Wednesday, 20 August 2014

Kaun Bangea Coreorpati (KBC), the
Indian version of the popular television show Who Wants to be a Millionaire is back this season with more money
and added glamour.

The host of the show, Mr Amitabh
Bachchan, is a towering icon in India who has mesmerised Indians for almost
four decades as a Bollywood super star.

Mr Bachchan, however, appears in a
different avatar on the small screen. His sense of humour, humility and
appreciation of the contestants and the audience at large makes him stand out
as a truly inspirational ambassador of Indian ethos and values.

But the programme itself is great
in many ways: over the years it has evolved in its style and content so much so
that each new season is eagerly awaited. It provides a wholesome family entertainment
and projects briefly stories from the lives of ordinary Indians.

Many of the contestants who
participate in the programme narrate social issues that continue to haunt
India. Dowry, child foeticide and infanticide, and abysmal state of education are some of
the issues that have been referred in first week of the game.

What is really commendable is the work and
commitment of these unknown individuals who try to make a difference in their
societies. Mr Bachchan’s empathy with
the causes gives these individuals a greater leverage to carry their mission
forward.

KBC also highlights the hardships of ordinary
individuals for many of whom winning certain amount can make a huge difference
to their lives. It also delves in the social fabric of the country knitting
people from different regions and backgrounds.

The pulse of the programme is
knowledge, but it also paints the essence of a multicultural society where it’s
not the differences but the similarities of culture and value system that holds
this massive nation together, and brings millions to watch this intelligent game
show.

Indian television is often
criticised for producing soaps that promote regressive values, KBC for once is
a breather!

Sunday, 3 August 2014

You
didn’t really need an expert to underline the special people –to- people
relationship that India and Nepal enjoys.

Even
as a kid, growing up in an Anglo Indian boarding school in picturesque hill
station of Kalimpong in 1990s, the relationship between the two countries was
apparent.

Majority
of the students in the hostel in my school, and a big number of boys and girls
in other boarding schools were from Nepal.We lived together, studied the same syllabus and shaped our goals based
on a common value system.

This
was further reinforced by a very liberal education that Victorian era schools
of the region espoused. The Nepalese students who came to study were well off.
They excelled academically and also in sports.

Apart
from asserting supremacy of India and Nepal on each other over frivolous
issues, which mostly stemmed from our immaturity in understanding international
relations as children, there were no tensions as such.

Coming
to study in that part of India, the Nepalese students felt at home. The
language overwhelming spoken in the Darjeeling area and Sikkim is Nepali, and local
cultural practices are akin to that in Nepal.

As
Indian students, coming from other far-flung areas of India and abroad, we
learnt to speak Nepali, lavished eating momos and Wai Wai, a popular Nepal made
instant noodles. In 1990s momos (dimsums) were unheard in mainland India. Many
of us fell in love with the pan – Nepali culture.

But
we also understood there were some deep-rooted grievances against India –
something systematically echoed by the Nepalese students.

As
the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi travels to Nepal for a state visit –
first bilateral visit by an Indian leader in seventeen years - the spectrum
of issues defining the relationship between the two countries have come to the forefront.
Experts on Indo–Nepal relations have pointed out what have gone wrong in the past, but
also talk about the unbelievable potential of the bilateral ties between two countries if taken to a new trajectory.

Writing
in The Hindu, Rakesh Sood, a former
Indian Ambassador to Nepal says the 1950 India- Nepal treaty of Peace and
Friendship, which allows Nepalese citizens to work in India and own property
among many other things, has a clause, which required Nepal to consult India on
its defence requirements.The author says
Nepalese see (this) as unfair and is“used by politicians to whip up anti-India sentiment.”

There
is also a bitter resentment in Nepal about India’s meddling in its domestic
affairs, though Indian has played a role in ending the a decade old Maoist insurgency by signing a 12 point agreement in 2005. A Joint Commission set up by
two governments to review the relationship between the two nations remained
defunct for 23 years.

As
India’s economy took off recording impressive growth rates in the first decade
of the 21st century, Nepal as a nation spluttered.The Royal massacre in 2000, the coup by King
Ganendra, the end of Maoist insurgency, restoration of what looks like a fragile
and unstable democracy, and lack of consensus by Nepal’s political leaders to
draft a constitution have brought the country to a standstill. But despite much
lower per capita income than India, Nepal has done better than India on several
Millennium Development Goals (MDG), including infant mortality, maternal
health, and child malnutrition and poverty reduction rates.

Experts
comment on the range of areas that India and Nepal can benefit if the
relationship is put on the right track. Tourism and linking pilgrimages sites
between the two countries is one of them, but what is striking is Nepal’s hydropower
potential, which if harnessed to an optimum level can make Nepal one of the
richest countries in the region.

Another
former India ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad says, “if half of Nepal’s hydro
potential was to be harnessed, annual revenues could top $40 billion, over $100
million a day.”

The
stakes in India- Nepal is much higher than any strategic relationship that
governs bilateral ties between nations. Indo-Nepal ties is all about common people : with open borders, cross-linking
history, traditions and culture, a mutually beneficial relationship can have a direct impact on ordinary citizens.

India, on its part must educate the citizens of Nepal a lot of good things that it’s doing
through its public diplomacy tools, and at the same time address the genuine
grievances of the Nepalese people on day to day matters like paying in USD for
healthcare and education in India, or bringing down the mobile phone tariff
between the two countries. Both countries must explore trade facilitation for
boosting growth and improving livelihoods at a local level.

India
and Nepal are going to talk on host of issues like trade, hydropower,
infrastructure and even building a cricket stadium at Pokhra, but one core
issue that is missing or being not talked about is human trafficking. Thousands
of Nepali women are trafficked into Indian cities and forced into sexual
slavery on a systematic manner.

A
concerted effort is required to address the issues of human rights, trafficking and
cross border local trade. It’s only then the open border between the two
countries can act as bridge in fostering a robust relationship based on mutual
trust and economic gain – something that is strongly desired for the harmony,
peace, prosperity and stability of two South Asian neighbours.

Saturday, 2 August 2014

Badaun shows many problems that rural India faces- lack of toilets is one of them. Katra Shadat Ganj in Badaun district in Uttar
Pradesh is approximately 293 kilometres from New Delhi.

The remote village
sits in between sprawling green and yellow agricultural land. The area is known
for its mangoes. It is here, a couple of months back two teenage girls were raped and
hanged to a tree, when they went out to relieve themselves in the open.

54% households
(408 out of 750 households) have never had toilets in this village. According to the government census 2011, half
of India’s population (around 600 million) don’t have toilets at home.

The incident had
lead to a renewed global outcry over the growing incidents of rape in India.
Two months down the line, the sleepy and poverty-ridden village is witnessing a
flurry of construction work.The village
is getting toilets – thanks to Sulabh international that has decided to build
toilets for every household following the horrific incident.

The toilets could
soon act as one of the vital life-changing agent for the villagers.Rushina Begum, 35 years, is a mother of three
daughters. The eldest daughter, Chandi is 14 years old.For Rushina, the biggest worry is the safety
of her three daughters. “There is a fear in my heart following the incident; I personally
take my daughters to the field”, she says.

The new toilet in
their courtyard is going to change their lives. “We are vey happy, we can’t
wait to use the toilet”, says Chandi.

The project
engineer, Ramesh Misra explains that the $ 700 toilets that Sulabh is building
suit the local conditions. “The soil is sandy and has high moisture”, he says.

Sulabh
International is India’s largest NGO that has been working in the field of sanitation
for over four decades.Its founder Dr
Bindeshwar Pathak pioneered a two- pit technology that is affordable, culturally
acceptable and can be easily built under any conditions.The technology can be further used to harness
biogas and produce fertilizer from human excreta.

Sulabh expanded
the concept of public toilets in India. Today, it maintains 8000 public toilets
and constructed over1.3 million household toilets. Its ground-breaking innovation
is seen as one of the biggest social movements in contemporary India.

Sulabh, under the
leadership of Dr Bindesheswar Pathak has a vision to provide toilets for every
household by 2019, something shared by the newly elected prime minister of
India, Narendra Modi, who during the election campaign echoed “ toilets first,
temples later.”

However, dealing
with India’s sanitation problem will require challenging the mind-set and
changing social habits.

Dr Pathak says,
“not having toilets in not directly linked with poverty. Lack of education for
a vast majority of population means that people don’t have basic sense of
sanitation, healthcare and hygiene.”

It’s true: across
north India, where the problem of open defecation is rampant, some villagers
have concrete and even big houses but the men running the household don’t feel
that toilet is necessary.

Getting every
household to use toilets will require motivation at one level, but more
importantly this shameful habit speaks volumes how miserably Indiahas failed to educate its population.